


The Show Must Go On

by Anonymous



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/F, Gay Panic, Hurt No Comfort, I'm Spending My Day Off By Crying Over a Fictional Pianist Until I Have a Headache Like an Adult, New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27925201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Tsumugi knew that she’d never love anything more then she did Danganronpa.Or at least she thought she knew that.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Shirogane Tsumugi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: Anonymous





	The Show Must Go On

Tsumugi knew that she’d never love anything more then she did Danganronpa.

So, when offered to do her own season, she accepted. She smiled. She was thrilled.

She didn’t ask questions about where they got the cast. She didn’t step out of line. She watched audition tapes - smiling excitedly, in spite of their dubious origin - wrote a script for a group of Ultimates. The perfect group of Ultimates - unique, transgressive, and subverting tropes she’s seen done to death in seasons prior.

Tsumugi was excited.

…

When Tsumugi first met the Ultimate Pianist, her heart swelled so big that it broke.

She had written Kaede Akamatsu to be a natural leader. Energetic, but a little bit self-righteous. Burning with passion and compassion.

Without knowing it, she had written Kaede to be her ideal person.  


So, seeing her in-person, it was only natural she’d fall in love.

Passionately and instantly in love. 

And it was love. A love that burned in her heart and made her question every feeling she had ever had prior. 

Had she loved Danganronpa? When her friends first introduced her to it, she had dismissed it out of hand. “It was violent,” she had said. “It was cruel,” she had said. It was only when she grew interested in one of the characters - season 23’s Ultimate Marine Biologist - that led her to binging the entire show. Tsumugi didn’t love all of it. Just moments. She initially fast-forwarded some of the more gruesome scenes.

Maybe she never liked it. Maybe she always thought it was cruel.

At the very least, her new love for Kaede made her previous love for Danganronpa feel hallow.

So, Tsumugi made up her mind. She would sabotage her own season.

Tsumugi was determined.

…

Kaede was a bit confused, honestly.

A very nicely-dressed man in a suit had explained to her that her school was providing her with a new uniform to better match her talent and therefore she’d be doing uniform fittings all day.

This was fine. She didn’t really feel a need to brag about her talent - she was proud of it, of course - but didn’t need to stand out in a crowd. Frankly, she enjoyed the comparative anonymity that her talent gave her. Being the Ultimate Pianist meant she’d be famous to some people, but not stopped on the street in the way an Ultimate Pop Sensation could be.

However, these people didn’t seem to work for her school. None of them even agreed on the name of her school - and they were working on uniforms for a bunch of Ultimates at once? They also kept on referring to her outfit as a “costume” and speaking about which combinations of notes on her skirt would be “in-character” for her.

They never asked her what she liked. They just decided what was right for her. 

Frankly, they were treating her like she wasn’t even human.

So, she was almost relieved when a bespectacled bluenette pulled her aside.

“I’m here to help you, Kaede.”

“Oh? Isn’t everyone here to help us look our best?”

“They’re not here to help you Kaede. They’re just… dressing up the sacrifices.”

“The… what?”

“This is a TV show. A murder TV show. In a couple weeks, your memories will have been written over so many times that you won’t know truth from lie. I should know. I wrote it.”

“You… you what?’

“I know! It was a horrible thing to do and I’m sorry. But I’m now going to help you, Kaede! We’ll escape this set. Run away together. I’m prepared! I have plane tickets. We’ll start a new life together. It'll be perfect. I know it sounds insane and absurd, but... it's true. So painfully horrifyingly true."

“I’m sorry, but this is just a lot to take in… I can’t just abandon my family, you know?”

“Your family doesn’t exist. They are just memories in your head. You do have a real family, but, frankly, in 3 weeks you’ll be so traumatized that you’ll never want to speak to them again as you’ll know they were complicit.”

“But… but… but…”

“Kaede. I know this is hard on you, but I need you to trust me. We don’t have much time. We have to run. Now.”

Kaede took a deep breath.

“Okay. Let’s say I believe you - which I want to do, for the record, in spite of the huge accusations you’re spitting out right now. What can we do?”

Kaede gestures to the people behind her - a green-haired man trying on a variety of necklaces and a short red-headed girl trying on a variety of outfits which can only be described as “legally distinct from Hogwarts robes.”

“Will we take them all with us?”

Tsumugi sighed. She cursed herself for making Kaede this self-sacrificing.

“No. I’m sorry. I want to, but we just need to go. Now. I’m so sorry.”

“Then… why me?”

“Because… because I love you. I know it’s weird for me to say that in our first real conversation, but… it’s true. I didn't know I needed you until now, but right now... I just can't let you be another sacrifice."

Tsumugi began to cry. Kaede stared back. She didn’t know what to say. 

A voice called for Kaede.

Tsumugi’s heart sank.

“Go. Go get your fitting.”

“Are you sure? I don't want to leave you hurting. You know, if you get a piano, I can play you -”

“Don’t. Please. Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.”

“If I’m truly in danger, then… _should_ I go?”

“It’s… it’ll be fine. I’ll keep you safe from behind the scenes. Everyone has their "pet characters" who get to survive in spite of logic. The audience may complain, but, frankly, this show has killed too many heroines already.... Just… don’t tell anyone this conversation happened, okay? Even if they ask.”

“It’s a promise.”

And Kaede walked away.

…

“We had a runaway.”

“Really? Who?”

“The Cosplayer. Mastermind stand-in.”

“Shit…”

“But that’s not all. Look what the security tapes picked up.”

“Is that… Tsumugi?”

“Yes. She was talking to one of the characters. Offering to run away with her. I spoke to the little piano freak herself and she denied it ever happened, but the tapes don’t lie.”

“That’s a problem. If someone like Tsumugi was going to turn to the media… We’d be fucked. This show could be over with a whistleblower like her.”

“Exactly. So… are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Solve two birds with one stone?”

“A true Mastermind…”

“For the Ultimate Real Fiction…”

“She’ll never know what hit her.”

…

Tsumugi knew that she had never loved anything more then she did Danganronpa.

However, as she spoke to the newly-hatless Shuichi over breakfast, she felt a wash of guilt come over her.

She wasn’t sure why. Everything had worked out perfectly for her. Problems had popped up, but she dealt with them accordingly. A little miscarriage of justice just adds to the despair. 

After all, she loved Danganronpa. And the show must go on.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp. That was sad. Thanks for reading!


End file.
